Monday, December 30, 2013

Birds at LaSalle Park


I just spent 35 minutes at LaSalle Park, walking the usual loop (paved walkway and boardwalk).  There are good numbers of birds, the most fancy of which were Blue-headed Vireo and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.

Of interest:
1 Northern Flicker
3 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1 male Red-bellied Woodpecker
3 Downy Woodpecker
1 Eastern Phoebe
2 Blue-headed Vireo
8 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
9 Orange-crowned Warbler
8 Yellow-rumped Warbler
8 Northern Cardinal

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic

Friday, December 27, 2013

Audubon Park today


Today I made a brief (15 minute) visit to the patch of trees behind the golf clubhouse.  I was mainly looking for White-winged Dove- and did flush one off the ground that flew up into the trees.

But the main highlight was a mass of small birds that I swished in along the edge of the bayou:
5 Yellow-rumped Warbler
3 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 Pine Warbler
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1 Blue-headed Vireo
1 Carolina Chickadee
2 Tufted Titmouse
1 Hermit Thrush

These were all gathered around and above me fussing, at once.

The Hermit Thrush was a surprise- not much undergrowth around, merely the narrow margin of it along the bayou edge.  This species is very scarce inside the city.

The Tufted Titmice were good to see- Audubon Park is presently where they make their farthest penetration into the city.  They are numerous in the swamp forests around our perimeter.

There was also a Northern Flicker- flushed from the ground- and a Belted Kingfisher along the bayou.

Good birding,

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic

Thursday, December 26, 2013

some bird sightings from Metairie


Today I saw four uncommon wintering birds for urban Metairie, all in places new to me:

Red-tailed Hawk- an adult harassed by crows, where the Earhardt Expressway crosses Central Avenue

American Kestrel- a male perched on a wire by the Earhardt Expressway, where it passes the end of Severn

Brown Thrasher- a bird high in a bare tree at the north end of Dodge in Old Jefferson (where it abuts the railroad right of way)

Northern Flicker- also high in a bare tree, in the 800 block of Jefferson Heights Avenue in Old Jefferson

These were all in the course of an hour.

Good birding! 

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center


Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Ring-billed Gulls picking berries from tree tops in Metairie


This morning on the 3900 block of David Drive in Metairie, I was astonished to see 2-3 Ring-billed Gulls swooping down to the crown of a Chinese Tallow tree and plucking berries from its top.

The tree was in a typical residential backyard, and was about 35 feet tall.  It had a near-leafless top, though still substantial (orangish) foliage on its lower half.  The area is relatively open- not a lot of mature trees.

I first saw one bird do it, an adult, and then it was joined by another Ring-billed- which I am pretty sure copied its behavior and also grabbed a berry.  A third Ring-billed began circling but seemed not to actually forage.  In all, about 6 berry-grabs were seen.

I do not remember seeing a gull (or any waterbird) pick fruit from a tree before.

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center






Tuesday, December 24, 2013

The enigma of winter Boat-tailed Grackles


Today at the Wal Mart parking lot in Harahan, I found myself parking at the way on the edge of the parking area, beneath a row of small live oaks bordering Jefferson Highway.

The trees were filled with male Boat-tailed Grackles, loudly issuing their rasping and chanting calls.  There were eleven in the trees in the space of the five parking slots surrounding my car, and more down the way.

They do this every winter.  They abandon the parking area in spring and summer when they nest, and return in flocks in winter, mixed males and females- sometimes 70 or more at this particular parking lot.  They hang out until near sundown, and then fly off to roost at some unknown location.

The question is, why are they advertising themselves, and why so vigorously?

Generally, this sort of loud posturing is associated with one (or both) of two purposes:  attracting a mate, and advertising a territory.

They are not close enough to nesting season to be attracting mates, at least so I would think.

They are not defending any territories in the parking lot- all the birds appear to mill and mix freely among the cars as they search for food.

So what could possibly make it worth their while to expend so much time and energy advertising themselves? Surely there must also be some risk involved, not just wasted energy- plenty of Cooper's Hawks in the area.
Such a familiar site- at Wal Mart every time I go- yet so puzzling.

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Visit to Longvue Gardens

I spent 30 minutes this morning walking the gardens.

The highlight was an immature Red-tailed Hawk that was unaccountably tame- allowed me to walk directly underneath it's perch 30 feet in a pine, and inspect it through binoculars as it preened.  Immature Red-tails are told from adults by the tail- the dorsal surface is brown with thin black bars, rather than the adult's rufous with a thick subterminal band.  The white underparts had the classic contrasting band of dark upper-belly streaks diagnostic of the species.  It was quietly sitting, ignored by a mockingbird and Blue Jay that chanced to notice it.  Then it flew to another spot across the garden, and was quickly set upon by a half dozen harassing jays.

The hawk's Disney-like trust of with me, was in striking contrast to the events thirty yards farther down the path.  I swished at a chipping Yellow-rumped Warbler in the Nature Garden, and was immediately beset by a quivering, fussing gathering in the branches overhead:  two Ruby-crowned Kinglets, two Orange-crowned Warblers, and three Yellowrumps.

Otherwise, the most interesting species at Longvue were a Brown Thrasher and a Pine Warbler, both also in the Nature Garden.

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic
Gentilly:  UNO campus bookstore



Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Site report: Lafitte Trace boardwalk


Today I spent an hour on this boardwalk down in Lafitte, a relatively new site with untapped birding potential.  I have not heard a birding report from this site before.

This is a 0.8 mile loop boardwalk through semi-open baldcypress swamp forest, with trees widely enough spaced to have sufficient sunlight to produce a healthy weed layer and ample shrubs (which appeared to me to be wax myrtle).  The cypress are c. 60-80 feet tall.  At the midpoint, the boardwalk reaches a canal, providing a little open water.  A spur goes off here, a cement walkway following the spoil bank (wooded) of the canal for about a third mile.  The interpretive signage indicates this provides views of an egret rookery in nesting season.

The whole thing is 3 miles from where the high rise over the Intracoastal Waterway ends (a T intersection- turn left).

The whole length of the boardwalk and cement path were alive with songbirds- hundreds.  They were constantly swarming to my spishing, which I did essentially continuously.  However, their diversity was not as great as in some other winter woodlands in our area.  Nevertheless, it was an entertaining hour, with 200 or so Yellow-rumped Warblers, 25 or so Swamp Sparrows, and 8-12 each of House and Carolina Wrens, Common Yellowthroat, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet.  There were smaller numbers of Eastern Phoebe, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, and Orange-crowned Warbler.

Birds of other taxa included four woodpecker species, all just heard, incuding Pileated and Sapsucker.  Black Vultures were about, and an odd American Kestrel was calling repeatedly up in the cypress crown (pleet pleet pleet...).  Two each of Great Blue Heron and Great Egret.

Good birding,

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic




Saturday, December 14, 2013

Another Bald Eagle along David Drive


Late this morning there was an adult Bald Eagle perched atop one of the high tension towers along David Drive in Metairie, a bit farther north than the one I reported earlier in the season.  It was just south of West Napoleon.

Good birding,

Peter

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Peregrine and Bald Eagle in New Orleans


Yesterday I saw a Peregrine at a traditional spot, atop the Holy Name church tower at Loyola University. The bird, an adult with dark gray upperparts, could be seen with the naked eye- silhouetted as it sat on the center of the top edge, on the tower's east side.  230 pm.  It stretched its wings and promptly made a brief foray out to the northeast for no apparent reason, returning immediately to within a few feet of where it had been.

At UNO, I was amazed to see an adult Bald Eagle sitting on the very top of the engineering building- my first perched on campus in 22 years.  It was atop one of the transmitter-like structures on the roof.

A few minutes later there was a Blue-headed Vireo in a shade tree on the southwest corner of the Children's Center- not an easy bird to find wintering in park-like environments.

Good birding,

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Pile of birds in the City Park cosmo patch

Today I spent ten minutes in the patch of cosmos along Marconi Drive in City Park (by Tad Gormley Stadium).

I spished in a nice crowd of birds, including luring a bunch of arboreal stuff out into the weeds:
1 Blue-headed Vireo
1 Hermit Thrush (!- normally requires a woodsy area, and usually not in town)
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
2 Swamp Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow

The vireo flew across 25 yards of open air to reach the small baldcypress out in the patch that I was standing next to- an unusually vigorous response for that species.  After it departed, a group of four kinglets did the same, crowding into the baldcypress to fuss at me.

Birding Made Easy is now also available Uptown at Octavia Books.

Good birding,

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop, Octavia Books
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic






Sunday, December 8, 2013

Franklin's Gull at Lafreniere Park


Today I made a brief swing by Lafreniere Park at 2:30 pm.  Among the horde of gulls attracted to some visitors feeding bread at the end of the boardwalk were 170 Laughing, 70 Ring-billed, and a lone Franklin's Gull.  The latter is a fancy bird here, probably not recorded annually in southeast Louisiana (though more regular in the western part of the state).

The bird allowed close approach, to about 7 feet, on the grass with the other gulls after they had taken to loafing when the bread disappeared.  The bird looks a lot like the Laughing Gulls present, differing most notably in the more extensive black on the head, forming a broad patch on both cheeks, crossing over the crown, accentuating the bird's white eye crescents.

For those without much gulling experience, the best way to pick it out is to scan the flock here for birds with usually much black on the head.  Some of the Laughers have enough gray on the side of face to allow eye crescents to form, but this bird is a strikingly blacker shade there and has much more of it.  Other nuanced differences are its smaller size than the Laughers and more petite bill.  The Ring-billed Gulls they are consorting with are much larger and paler than either the Laughers or the Franklin's.

The Franklin's was a bird in its first winter, as indicated by the extensive brown mottling on the wings.  This contrasts noticeably with the slate gray back- another good way to pick it out.  Because almost all the Laughings were adults, and these have the wings the same slate color as the back, that is a good second feature to check if you are looking and think you may have found it.  It has brown wings.  Only one of the 170 Laughers there today had brown wings (which also indicates immaturity for that species).

Other birds were scores of both coots and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, the usual hordes of White Ibis, and a lone male Lesser Scaup from the boardwalk, my first of the fall/winter.

The gulls probably move in and out, so it may not end up being as consistent as the Iceland Gull is in Mandeville- but we shall see!

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at area book stores.  It is now available at
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shop
French Quarter and Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librairie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  City Park Botanical Garden, Community Book Center
North Shore:  Mandeville Chiropractic




Thursday, December 5, 2013

Black Skimmers at the Ted Hickey Bridge 30 minutes ago

I just stopped by the Ted Hickey Bridge (Leon C. Simon crossing the Industrial Canal, at the lakefront).  As usual, there were a few hundred waterbirds loafing on the two breakwaters.

Most interesting was 7 Black Skimmers.  This is the best place to look for them in urban New Orleans outside the nesting season, but they are not here all the time.

The crowd was rounded out by 160 or so Laughing Gulls, five Ring-billed Gulls, 25 Double-crested Cormorants, and a half dozen or so Brown Pelicans.

Surprisingly, there were no Forster's Terns!  When I visited the Mandeville Waterfront a few days ago, they were the most numerous bird on the breakwaters there.  And at the defunct pier at Pontchartrain Beach (still closed- but you can scope from outside the gate), they usually are the most common species as well.

I was also surprised by the lack of Common Loons- often a good place for them.

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com.  $24 (including $4 shipping).

You can also look for it at various bookstores in Uptown and the French Quarter/Marigny; on the North Shore there are now a few copies at Mandeville Chiropractic (I know- weird- it's a family connection).

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Peregrine near downtown


This morning at 8:30 am as I was approaching downtown from the west on the I-10, a Peregrine Falcon flew over the interstate, headed west.  It's flight was not particularly intense, suggesting that it was casually prospecting- perhaps for food.  It passed over the new Tulane medical facility that is under construction.

Peter


Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Caught up with the Iceland Gull this afternoon

This afternoon at 4 pm, I stopped by the east end of Lakeshore Drive in Mandeville, to look for the stray Iceland Gull that has now been there for some time.

There were hundreds of loafing birds on the breakwaters near the mouth of Bayou Castine, some close, some requiring a spotting scope for good views.   They were mainly Forster's Terns, but there were good numbers of Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls, lesser numbers of Royal Terns, and a handful of Brown Pelicans.

After ten minutes of scanning without seeing the Iceland, I was about to throw in the towel, when I noticed a lone bird sitting on a post near the shoreline, a few hundred yards west, well away from the main throngs.  I swung the scope onto it and- sure enough- it was the Iceland.

It then allowed us (I was with my daughter and a friend) to drive up and look from closer range.

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy

Sunday, December 1, 2013

late Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on West Esplanade


This afternoon as I was driving east on West Esplanade from Williams Boulevard, I passed a solitary Yellow-crowned Night-Heron fishing in the canal.  It was standing stock still, neck outstretched, bill slightly angled down, in classic posture for the species.

The large majority of Yellow-crowns leave for the winter, but a few linger- most winters I do not see any.

It was a mature bird, with the black head/white cheek patch indicating as much (at least not hatched this summer).

Good birding,

Peter

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving morning- flight at South Point


I made a quick walk out to South Point in Bayou Sauvage NWR today, to have a look at any corrective flight that might be occurring in the wake of the front.  This is traditionally a pretty good date for such movements by Robins and Yellowrumped Warblers, the last significant flights before winter.

Driving up I-10 through New Orleans East, I passed two small (~15) flocks of Robins flying NE along the interstate- a good sign movement was underway.

I stopped briefly at the base of the highway 11 bridge across the Lake, where three Dark-eyed Juncos were foraging on the shoulder. This species winters regularly north of the Lake, but is scarce south- with the best time probably being immediately after these late fall cold fronts. In the little woodlot there, a White-eyed Vireo scolded me when I spished, but did not come into view.

I parked at the gate at the "crabbing bridge," and walked the road and levee north to the base of the railroad bridge at South Point.

A Horned Grebe was close in at the crabbing bridge; a distant flock of birds on the water appeared to be ten more of the same.

Along the levee, there was a flock of about 150 ducks in the impounded marsh; mostly Gadwall, with Blue and Green-winged Teal and Black-bellied Whistlers mixed in.

A flock of a dozen sparrows around the base of the high tension tower included Song, Swamp, Savannah, Chipping, and- the least expected- a Field.  Field is uncommon south of the Lake.

There were shallows in the marsh, where a hundred or so shorebirds were resting and foraging.  Five Dowitchers flew by close and one obligingly cried "peep"- showing itself to be a Long-billed.  Overall, Dunlin seemed to dominate, but I also picked out Lesser Yellowlegs and Western Sandpiper, and more dowitchers. One Wilson's Snipe spooked from the edge, giving its usual "urp" alarm call.  Several small groups of Black-necked Stilts flew back and forth, giving their strident calls.

A flock of 70 or so American Pipits was milling about the levee "lawn;" they swarmed past a Kestrel, which appeared to make a pass at one of them.

Two Red-tails were atop the high tension towers, and two Northern Harriers were cruising low over the impounded marsh.

The scrubby woods scattered through the impoundments were swarming with milling Robins, Yellowrumps, and Tree Swallows.  Periodically, groups would cross the levee and head northeast over the water, bound for Slidell.  In 30 minutes of counting, I saw about 700 do this (330 Robins, 70 Yellowrumps, 300 Tree Swallows).  The swallows may just be dispersers from their roosts to the west; the Robins and Yellowrumps I generally interpret as migrants making corrective movements after having been wind-drifted farther south than intended by the northerly post-frontal winds .

Two solo Common Loons flew northeast overland across the point, cutting the across from open water to open water- always a treat to see their weird, dangling-leg silhouettes.  Flying loons are expected at this spot this time of year.

Walking back along the levee, I flushed the usual scattering of Savannah Sparrows from the short grass.  Two Eastern Meadowlarks were also in the open along the levee, somehow missed on the walk out.  Oddly, the swale with the ducks had now acquired a flock of 150 American Coots.

Driving out to the interstate at 0900 AM, I stopped briefly for a streaky hawk on a pole- immature Red-shouldered.

On the I-10 headed back into town, I passed an Osprey hovering over a canal near Crowder- and when I looked farther up the canal, saw a second one doing the same.

Good birding,

Peter

Sunday, November 24, 2013

mega Tree Swallow roosts on internet radar


One of the more spectacular late fall events in the birding calendar of southeast Lousiana is the formation of huge Tree Swallow roosts.  These are usually in sugar cane fields, and usually persist until the cane is cut around the present date.

This year there have been no (publicized) reports of such roosts, including from the usual stronghold, a location on the West Bank upriver in Vacherie.  The birds normally become a milling mass that covers the sky near twilight over the roost field, and eventually settle down into the cane through a weird downward extension of the flock that looks like a funnel cloud- birders often refer to it as a "swallow tornado."  This conduit drains the great mass of swallows from the sky until they are down in the cane for the night.  It is quite possible that the Vacherie roost has a million birds, but estimating is very difficult.

I noticed yesterday morning that two roosts appear to be visible on online weather radar (unfiltered, thus the birds remain visible; such images are available at rap.ucar.edu).  It is normal to be able to see the dispersing roosts in dawn images on such radar.  Although other densely roosting species can cause similar radar echoes, Tree Swallows are the most likely this time of year (and Purple Martins in summer; possibly other species at other seasons also).

Interestingly, the present roosts seem to be in wetlands- not cane.  One is north of Thibodaux (about one mile south of Hwy 3219 x Hwy 3127), and the other appears to be near the Airline Hwy entrance to the Ormond Estates, west of the I-310 overpass!  That is, in the wetlands north of Airline. There may be interesting viewing there in the evening- anyone with any observations, please let me know!

Here are two images from yesterday near dawn.  The red arrow in the top image shows the Ormond roost beginning to disperse (small dot).  The second image shows both roosts dispersing shortly thereafter- the Ormond birds have now created a crescent echo headed east or northeast; the red stars are where the two echoes first appeared, and are the best estimates of the actual roost sites.  There was some hint of another roost at Manchac, which may have merged with the Ormond birds in this second image.  The fact that the radar echoes are moving east is probably just an artifact of the position of the radar beam coming from Slidell- they probably disperse in all directions.

Good birding,

Peter


Saturday, November 23, 2013

bird worth chasing: Iceland Gull


This morning a birder posted a photograph of an Iceland Gull at the Mandeville lakefront, at the east end of the park.

This is a gull of normal size, but is strikingly whiter (with merely some tan smudging).  The wingtips are white.  The bill is black.

This is a species that is very similar to another, only slightly less rare (here) species, called the Thayer's Gull, and full steps have not yet been taken to make sure it is not the latter- but it looks good.

The Iceland Gull was see first in our state only last winter, in Venice- despite people being on the alert for it for decades.

The bird is very tame, and may even come to bread.

Good birding!

Peter

Update-

The bird has been seen by many observers today.  While you are there, look for a flock of 16 Black Scoters (well out on the water) and some Buffleheads that are also present.  I mistakenly said west end of the park before- the birds are at the east end, by the breakwaters and Bayou Castine mouth.

Here is an Iceland Gull pic taken there today by John Sevenair.






Friday, November 22, 2013

Bald Eagle sightings four days in a row


I have seen Bald Eagles each of the last four days, only leaving the city once, and without making an effort for any of them:

Monday- perched on a high tension tower in Metairie
Tuesday- spotted at a distance while I counted robins flying across the UNO campus
Wednesday- two on the I-10 span between Kenner and Laplace (one at the nest by I-310, another while crossing the spillway)
Thursday- one three year old (dark tip on white tail) over the UNO campus
Friday- none, bummer!

What a wonderful thing, given that the species remained essentially extirpated from our area just a few decades ago.

Good birding,

Peter

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

215 American White Pelicans flying over City Park




While driving I-610 east across City Park about an hour ago (4:20 pm), I came alongside a large flock of white pelicans that were strung out into two massive "V" formations on the north side of the interstate.  They were slowly making their way east, alternately flapping and gliding (often such flocks are instead seen circling and drifting in their intended direction- perhaps a time-of-day difference?).

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy, email me at birding.made.easy@gmail.com, or look for it at local bookstores.  It is now available at:
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shops
French Quarter and the Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librarie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet
Mid City:  Community Book Center

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

800 American Robins passing UNO in 30 minutes


This morning there were droves of American Robins flying northeast, performing their classic "correction" flight, an apparent retreat into the northeast wind to correct for wind drift that happened as they migrated behind the front that just passed.  (At least, that is the interpretation I favor for these ~northward flights in fall, which occur regularly for various species).

I noticed fifty or so flying over Canal Blvd on my way to UNO, so counted as I walked onto campus from my car, and then spent 20 more minutes counting from the fourth floor of Kirschmann Hall (before my 9:30 class).

The total was 812 robins in 30 minutes, all headed northeast.  They came in a series of flocks, the largest of which was 325.   During the same period, 54 warblers passed headed northeast as well- presumably mainly or entirely Yellow-rumpeds.  Also two small waves of Tree Swallows totalling 33, and a tight flock of ten or so Cedar Waxwings- my first of the fall.

All these were headed northeast- I expect there was quite a show at South Point this morning (where the highway bridges leave for Slidell), where even more birds should have accummulated.

While scanning, I picked up some milling raptors: an adult Bald Eagle distant to the southwest (over City Park perhaps?), a closer Osprey, and four or so Turkey Vultures.

Good birding,

Peter

Monday, November 18, 2013

Bald Eagle perched along David Drive in Metairie a few minutes ago


At 10:25 AM I was driving up David Drive between West Metairie and West Napoleon, and noticed an adult Bald Eagle perched atop one of the high tension towers to the west.  It was straight across from Lafreniere Street (not Lafreniere Park).

I had noticed a large raptor in this same spot yesterday morning as well, but hadn't gotten a good look.  Presumably it was this eagle.

The towers farther north have scattered Double-crested Cormorants roosting on them.

Good birding,

Peter

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Birding opportunity: low water at Bayou Sauvage NWR


One of the birding highlight of Greater New Orleans is the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge of New Orleans East.

While it is worth visiting under any circumstances, the areas south of I-10 are presently experiencing exceptionally good conditions.  When water levels are low, the ponds and marshes in that area gather thousands of waterbirds. Although birds may be distant, the numbers of them will be exhilirating nonetheless.
The refuge is currently experiencing such conditions- making now a prime time to visit.  There is no telling how long these conditions will last- their attractiveness could even be severely reversed by just a few rainstorms.   Many months can sometimes pass between low water episodes, so now is a great time to get out and enjoy the throngs of waterbirds.

Good viewing is available along Chef Menteur Hwy, east of I-510.  Just into the refuge, a gated road on the right (Recovery Road) can be walked to a large pond- if you want, you can walk the levee track for miles around its perimeter (the levee eventually separates it from the Intracoastal Waterway and tidal marshes).  You can also view the habitat from the Joe Madere boardwalk just a bit farther down Chef Hwy.  Light is generally best in the afternoon in both places, since the wetlands lie to the east of the vantage points.  There are land birds to be seen while walking Recovery Road, in the roadside scrub.

These places are described on pp. 35 + 36 in Birding Made Easy-New Orleans.

Good birding!

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy, email me at birding.made.easy@gmail.com, or look for it at local bookstores.  It is now available at:
Uptown:  Garden District Book Shop, Maple Street Book Shops
French Quarter and the Marigny:  Peach Records, Fauborg Marigny Art Books Music, Librarie Book Shop, Beckham's Bookshop, Arcadian Books and Prints, the Crabnet

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Birding the evening chorus


This evening as dusk was falling I took a stroll down to the Old Jefferson batture. 

A path that leads into the batture woods had been recently mowed- making it easy to walk (not sure why anyone would mow it, but I was happy to take advantage!)

Two huge Great Blue Herons, which had probably settled into their evening roost spots, launched over one of the tree-rimmed, weed-choked swales with their slow but powerful wingbeats.

Swamp Sparrows began to call on both sides of me- their distinctive sharp chip note.  They are a species that characteristically (in my experience) goes through a short period of vocalizing in the failing light of dusk. During such evening choruses, it is always fun to hear how many there are out there in the marsh that were otherwise undetected.  

I have heard other species do this elsewhere in Louisiana- White-throated Sparrow and Sedge Wren, for instance.  About a decade ago I found a wintering Summer Tanager- usually absent at this season-  in this same woods when it began chorusing at dusk with its ticky toc toc call.  For those species that do it, it is a great way to detect birds that you did not know were around.  I have never heard an explanation for the behavior.

The highlight of tonight's stroll, however, came when an ambulance siren pierced the evening air of the batture- and stimulated a pack of Coyotes to start howling in response!  They seemed to all be in one small area, perhaps fifty yards away, in the trees across the swale that the herons had crossed.  Their voices overlapped so that counting them was impossible- but it seemed to be four or five.  A treat!

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it in area bookstores.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Movement on the front- Bucktown and UNO


This morning I swung by Bucktown and spent 20 minutes out on the peninsula, starting out at the north end of the artificial marsh.

There were Swamp Sparrows in the marsh, and a Savannah.  I flushed a larger sparrow up from the edge that I suspect was a White-crowned, but it went for cover.

Farther out on the peninsula, a few Savannah Sparrows were out in the short grass.  Two Red-winged Blackbirds flew in from high up- probably newly arrived migrants looking for habitat, given that they don't winter at the site.  Looking from the tip across toward West End revealed fewer terns and gulls than usual, but 28 Brown Pelicans on pylons- about 60% adults.

Walking back on the peninsula, I heard a Song Sparrow calling in the scrub.  A Yellow-rumped Warbler flew in, probably from over the water, and chipped restlessly.  It then took off westward, climbing high in the sky, appearing conflicted as it faced north but drifted west.  This matches a phenomenon we often see in south Louisiana on mornings after a frontal passage in fall- birds trying to head back north into the wind, apparently drifted farther south than they wished.

Shortly thereafter, two birds passed heading east at moderate height- which proved to be American Pipits in the binoculars, uncharacteristically silent in flight (usually they give their frail sipit notes).  These were also covering ground, probably also new arrivals on the front.  While they were passing, an American Goldfinch flew westward, also high, and solo, giving its usual potatochip call.  These were my first of both these species this season.

As I approached the car, I stopped once more to swish, and was rewarded by the dry tek of a Marsh Wren, which soon climbed a weed stalk into view.  I circulated back along the edge where I had spooked the suspected White-crowned, but it had not returned.

At UNO, I noticed a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in an ornamental baldcypress in front of my office building (Milneburg) as I walked in.  It flew into an exotic elm that is riddled with sapsucker diggings from winters past (holes drilled in short horizontal lines).  I could actually see sap glistening in some new holes high in the tree- not something I can recall seeing before.  A chickadee was there; I swished at in, and 4 Pine Warblers, an Orange-crowned Warbler, and a Blue-headed Vireo all materialized from the shade trees.  The vireo does not normally winter on campus, and is probably passing through; the warblers may stay, although they also go through a pulse of elevated numbers in late fall that fades into winter.  A student en route to my 9:30 hurricane meteorology class paused and inquired "anything good?"  I said "Yeah-Yellow-bellied Sapsucker."  He looked surprised that something that exotic sounding would be in front of our building.

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it in area bookstores.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Water features


A great way to attract birds to your yard is to put out water features.  The best ones have running water of some sort- such as a cascade or mister.  Even a hole in a hose running over the basin can do the trick.  Having such moving water can greatly increase the amount of traffic a bath receives.

Baths should be shallow, and ideally be on the ground near plant cover.  If they are elevated, try to make them seem like they are part of a raised ground surface, such as a ledge or embankment.

One great advantage of water is that it can attract birds that will never be attracted to feeders.

To whet your appetite, here are three pictures from a yard in Harahan that is well equipped with water features.  The first remarkable photo shows a crowd of seven Tennessee Warblers joined bathing by a single Northern Parula- taken late last month.  The photographer said more than twice this many Tennessees were clustered in and around the bath at once.  The other pics are of a male Wilson's Warbler (yellow), and a shot of a male Summer Tanager (red) bathing with an Indigo Bunting (brown and blue).  Notice the natural settings simulated by these baths- not just a pedestal out on the lawn!

Good birding!

Peter




Saturday, November 9, 2013

A great spot to find American Kestrel in the city


Among the birds of prey that visit New Orleans in winter is the American Kestrel, our smallest falcon (and smaller than any of the hawks).  While you may chance upon this species in a wide variety of open habitats, there is one especially reliable spot:  the wide neutral ground between Pontchartrain and West End Boulevards in Lakeview.

For several years, a few kestrels have taken to perching on the wires that run across this expansive lawn.  The birds are back this year; last Thursday, during an afternoon drive by, I saw one perched on the wire just north of Filmore, and another on the wire just south of Harrison.

American Kestrels are similar in size and body posture to a Mourning Dove when sitting on a wire.   Females are reddish above and pale below, and males are similar but have bluish wings (and more ornate head and underpart markings).  A male kestrel is one of Louisiana's most dramatically colored bird species.

Kestrels often bob their tails when perched.  When hunting, they often hover- something that rules out the other falcon species in our area immediately, as well as our other small hawk, the Sharp-shinned.  None of these species perch on wires, either.

Good birding,

Peter

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Peregrine by the Galleria

Today as I was driving west on I-10 at 8:45 am, I passed a Peregrine Falcon that was heading eastbound, more or less over the eastbound lanes, at low enough altitude for an easy naked-eye view.  Near the Galleria in Metairie.

It was flying more hesitantly than usual for this species, which is usually flies quite directly.  Maneuvering for a strike at prey?

Peregrines are known to sometimes roost on the Jefferson water tower just west of here; perhaps it was coming from there.  How great to have Peregrines in the city!  When I was growing up, it was rare- practically a fantasy bird.

Later in the day, two Red-shouldered Hawks were perched conspicuously side by side, clearly a mated pair, on the corner of a rooftop on the north side of I-10, just west of Clearview.

Peter

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Wintering species returning- sightings this weekend


As expected, wintering species have jumped up in evidence around New Orleans with this latest frontal passage.

In ten minutes on the LaSalle Park boardwalk this morning, I was able to find a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and then heard a chickadee, which when I swished turned into three chickadees, two Ruby-crowned
Kinglets, a Blue-headed Vireo, and a Tennessee Warbler.  These are all standard woodland wintering species in the region, except for the Tennessee (bound for the tropics).

I led a church youth group on the Coquille Trail this afternoon, where there were also winterers that had presumably arrived sometime recently:  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Eastern Phoebe, Sedge Wren, Northern Harrier, and Pine and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

The Sedge Wren was in odd habitat (semi-open swamp forest, lacking the grassy understory they tend to prefer), suggesting it was a very recent arrival still searching for preferred habitat.   Two Black Vultures tearing into a carcass on the edge of the canal (large boned- deer?) were unconcerned with our presence.

A few notable sightings came from the North Shore this weekend:  a flock of 80 Greater White-fronted Geese (a lot for our area) headed southwest over Folsom, and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher adjacent I-10 in Slidell just north of the twin span, described as particularly long-tailed for the species (indicative of a mature male).

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District or Maple Street Book Shops, or at the City Park Botanical Garden gift shop.

Friday, November 1, 2013

John Snell/WVUE piece on Roseate Spoonbills


WVUE in New Orleans ran a good piece last night on Roseate Spoonbills, discussing the history of their demise and recovery, and occurrence in the canals in the metro area.

http://www.fox8live.com/story/23846564/cajun-flamingo-comes-roaring-back-from-brink-of-extinction

I recently took John Snell around to find some in the canals along West Metairie Ave and Airline.  The canal he is standing in is along Airline, the first bridge west of Lester (we found a spoonbill there- it is in the piece, foraging next to a concrete slab).  The first shot of me talking is at Lafreniere Park (no spoonbills there at the time).

Most of the nesting footage I suspect was at Lake Martin near Lafayette, but I'm not sure.  He also incorporated foraging shots he took in Bayou Sauvage NWR in New Orleans East, where he found 20-30 earlier in the season.

There were still spoonbills in the canals, as of two days ago on Airline by Lester.  They seem to be more regular there now than in the West Metairie canal.

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District and Maple Street Book Shops, or the gift shop in the City Park Botanical Garden.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Front may bring birds

The cold front that will be passing tonight will probably bring in a wave of migrants along with the cool weather.  We may notice an arrival of Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Most birds will, like the Yellowrumps, be species that winter in our area.  However, we tend to see many of them in especially high numbers after November fronts compared to the numbers that will spend the winter.  Many species that do not normally winter in urban landscapes are likely to show up immediately after a front at this season, before seeking out their preferred winter haunts outside the city.  For instance, a Hermit Thrush or Swamp Sparrow is more likely to turn up in your garden now than in January.

Also, several species that usually winter north of Lake Pontchartrain overshoot to the South Shore with such fronts.  These include Winter Wren, Brown Creeper, Vesper Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, and others.

If it remains rainy tonight, things may be slow still tomorrow- with the main pulse of birds delayed to Friday night.  Of course, with migration, nothing is entirely predictable!

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District or Maple Street Book Shops, or the City Park Botanical Garden gift shop.


Sunday, October 27, 2013

Longvue Garden yesterday


I led a short birdwalk for a group who came to Longvue Gardens yesterday (Saturday) morning, in association with doing a book signing.

It was a beautiful fall day.  The grounds are very well planted for birds, and under-visited by local birders.

We had a small flock of American Robins swarming over some fruiting camphor trees, accompanied by a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  An Eastern Wood-Pewee was also in the tree, through it is not a fruit-eater and was sallying for bugs.

An immature Red-tailed Hawk was perched in a pine.

In the Nature Garden, two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were chasing each other from tree to tree.  This species often does this in late fall when they first arrive here (they will spend the winter).  An Eastern Phoebe was also there, and 1-2 Brown Thrashers.

We also had the usual array of resident species, including Blue Jays, Fish and American Crows, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Carolina Wren, etc.

Peter


Friday, October 25, 2013

Barred Owl in residential yard

This morning in the 6 am darkness, I slid open my rear sliding glass door to let my dog come inside.

In the brief period in which the door was open, a Barred Owl gave its full eight-phrase hooting call from my Live Oak, straight over my head.  This call is often described as who cooks for you, who cooks for you all.

I had a Barred Owl calling several times on and near my yard a few winters ago.   Those are my only other records in my neighborhood, or indeed anywhere in residential New Orleans.

The Barred is the species of owl most commonly encountered in the swamps outside of town, but it does not reside in the city, except for a very few that occupy our few large urban forest fragments (like the Nature Center).

Peter


Thursday, October 24, 2013

My first vulture feeding in East Jefferson (ever)


Turkey Vultures were scarce far into the city before Katrina.  I rarely saw them in East Jefferson, Lakeview, Mid City, or Gentilly.  

After Katrina, they seem to me to be several fold more frequent in this area, but are almost always in the air.

In the last few years, I have begun to see them perched- on high poles or towers, or on the ground apparently nocturnally roosting.  Probably fewer than a half dozen total.

Today as I was in Metairie taking the "hidden" entrance to the Earhardt Expressway off Airline (across from the country club), one came in swooping low, and picked up an apparent small dead animal (rat?) in its beak as it stood on the ground.  Another approached low, and several crows were drawn in.

This is the first time I have actually seen a Turkey Vulture find food here.   Black Vultures continue to be even rarer this far into the city.

Good birding,

Peter

Monday, October 21, 2013

Bird to watch out for: American White Pelican


A bird to keep your  eyes open for this time of year is the American White Pelican.  They are making their way south to the Gulf Coast from the northern prairies, where they nest in colonies.  The coastal marshes of southeast Louisiana are an important wintering area for the species.

White Pelicans will appear overhead almost anywhere, including over urban New Orleans.  They usually circle overhead, low enough to catch your eye as you as you glance skyward while walking to your car or doing whatever.  They are usually seen in flocks, commonly dozens together, wheeling slowly in the sky, white plumage flashing in the sunlight.  They are huge birds, and heavy, with broad wings with black tips.

There is perhaps no avian sight in Louisiana as stirring to me as when I am surprised by a flock of white pelicans circling overhead as I go about my daily business.  I suspect many others have similar emotions.

This note was prompted by a sighting:  a local observer reported 100 over Helios in Metairie today.

Keep your eyes skyward!

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com , or look for it at the Maple Street or Garden District Book Shops.

I will be having a book signing (and leading a bird walk) at Longvue Gardens in Metairie on Saturday October 26.  Come and join in!




Sunday, October 20, 2013

Visit to Kenner wader roost


This evening I stopped by the wader roost in the Kenner City Park at Vintage and Loyola.  There were 150 waders roosting, mainly White Ibis, but with smaller numbers of Great, Snowy, and Cattle Egrets, and Tricolored and Little Blue Herons.  One Anhinga, and one Black-crowned Night-Heron.

I was mainly interested in whether spoonbills were roosting here- none tonight.

It was also curious that there were zero Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks.  I don't imagine that will last much longer!

About ten American Coots were present- not sure how many might have been new wintering arrivals.

Good birding,

Peter

Friday, October 18, 2013

Migrants this morning at LaSalle Park


A 25 minute visit to LaSalle Park this AM did produce an array of migrants, though not in huge numbers.  Still, enough to suggest arrivals from last night's front.

A mixed flock with chickadees mostly got away after frustrating me in bad light, but had at least a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and male Northern Parula.  The flock was on the margin of the main woods and the adjacent glade with shade trees, along the paved path.

Nothing was in the ragweed patch.

At the far end of the boardwalk, a small cluster of birds included five or so Indigo Buntings, a Summer Tanager (probably two), and a Northern Flicker.

I swished for a few minutes by the drip, drawing in a Gray Catbird.

Last night, a brief listen outside around 9:45 produced a single call note (by an overhead migrant- probably Wood Thrush).  However, another birder in Baton Rouge reported a higher volume of overhead notes around 10:10 pm, mostly thrushes.

Might be an interesting next few days- it is possible that the stalled cold front will allow birds to keep coming down to us, but prevent them from departing across the Gulf- perhaps causing them to accumulate.  Worth thinking about, anyway!

Oh yeah, the Roseate Spoonbill was back on Canal Street in Old Metairie this morning at 8 am.

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com , or look for it at the Maple Street or Garden District Book Shops.

I will be having a book signing (and leading a bird walk) at Longvue Gardens in Metairie on Saturday October 26.  Come and join in!


Thursday, October 17, 2013

Roseate Spoonbill in Old Metairie


Today I had a Roseate Spoonbill in a new location- the narrow drainage canal along Canal Street, which runs diagonally from the I-10 overpass at Oaklawn, southeastward toward the pumping station on the 17th Street Canal, in Old Metairie.  1:30 pm.

This small canal usually has White Ibis, Tricolored Heron, and Snowy Egret in it.

I have also seen or heard of Spoonbills in a few other new locations the last few weeks:  one reported by a visiting birder in City Park just north of I-610 in a pond, and one that I spied last week in Kenner in the West Metairie Ave drainage canal at Indiana (which is near Williams Blvd).

Air is feeling nice outside now!  If the cloud cover continues tonight, it might be a good night to listen for call notes.

Peter
5:14 pm

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com , or look for it at the Maple Street or Garden District Book Shops.

I will be having a book signing (and leading a bird walk) at Longvue Gardens in Metairie on Saturday October 26.  Come and join in!

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Migration and tonight's front


A front is scheduled to pass tonight.  It may not get by us until morning, but winds have been out of the north half of the compass for a few hours now at Lakefront Airport- perhaps it is already passing.

There is usually a pulse of birds after a fall front-  it will be worth getting out and looking around after this one.  There may be call notes overhead tonight if there are north winds.

There should still be Indigo Buntings, Gray Catbirds, Common Yellowthroats, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks coming through with this front- among our last neotropical migrants (i.e., migrants headed for the American tropics to winter).  The earlier season groups (neotropical migrant vireos and warblers, etc) are over their peak in numbers now, but some should still be mixed in.

Early waves of birds that are primarily temperate zone winterers should be evident as well - such as Swamp Sparrow, PineWarbler (arriving on the South Shore- already present year round on the North Shore), and Eastern Phoebe.

It is also a good time to find a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.  Keep your eyes on fences, powerlines, tips of small trees, etc- they often perch in the open.

It is hard to say whether the best birding will be tomorrow AM or the next day.  And of course, some fronts mysteriously produce little movement at all- while others are truly memorable.  Let's get out and look!

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Maple Street or Garden District Book Shops.

I will be having a book signing (and leading a bird walk) at Longvue Gardens in Metairie on Saturday October 26.  Come and join in!





Tuesday, October 15, 2013

A short stop at Bucktown Marsh


Today I stopped by the Bucktown Marsh on the way to work.

As before, a vocal Loggerhead Shrike greeted me from the picnic area.

Immediately in front of the parking area, on the scrub edge, a little party of birds gathered to fuss at my swishing:  3 Common Yellowthroats, a Marsh Wren, a Northern Waterthrush, and my first Swamp Sparrow of the fall.

Not much along the cut path along the lakeshore, until the far end of the thicket it passes through, where there were three more Swamp Sparrows and two more Yellowthroats.

Today I walked out to the tip of the peninsula for the first time in a couple years- there is good weedy habitat along both the lake and harbor edges of it.  On the walk out I put up three Savannah Sparrows- my first of the fall.  An immature (white) Little Blue Heron took off from the rip-rap shore, as did two Spotted Sandpipers, which  flew  in an arc over the water with their usual ringing weet weet weet and stiff wingbeats.  From the tip, I counted 115 Forster's Terns sitting on pylons (etc) across the way at West End, accompanied by about an equal number of Laughing Gulls and five or so Royal Terns.

I walked the scrubby harbor edge on the way back to the car, which looks great but produced nothing today.  The three Savannahs had ventured out onto the open ground in the center of the peninsula, and flitted back into the lakeside weeds at my approach.

"Land's End" sorts of places like this often seem especially likely to produce oddities, so it is a tantalizing spot. I will be back.

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Maple Street or Garden District Book Shops.

I will be having a book signing at Longvue Gardens on Saturday October 26, when I will also lead a birdwalk on grounds.  Hope to see you there!

Monday, October 14, 2013

Migrants in a Katrina lot


Today I stopped by a shotgun-sized Katrina lot in Gentilly near UNO, that is overgrown with scrubby growth, tallows, and ragweed.  I have been checking it regularly for a few years now.

Today's visit produced the most birds there so far this fall- surprising given the lack of recent frontal activity.  Eleven Indigo Buntings, three Blue Grosbeaks, a White-eyed Vireo, and a Brown Thrasher.  Also, a Cardinal was present- quite likely my first ever there (Katrina-flooded residential areas in Orleans Parish are now essentially Cardinal-free).

Good birding,

Peter

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Bird to look for: Gray Catbird


We are now entering what is arguably the peak week of the year for an interesting species, the Gray Catbird.

Gray Catbirds are a smooth medium gray all over, without streaks or mottling.  The only exceptions are a black cap, and rusty undertail coverts.  They are about the same shape as a mockingbird (and are in the same family), but a touch smaller.  They tend to hold their body horizontally like a mocker as well.

Gray Catbirds usually occur in dense undergrowth, although they will work their way upward into trees where fruit (usually berries) are available.

Although small numbers remain in south Louisiana in winter, and a very few nest here in summer, they are far more numerous during their April and October peaks of migratory passage.  They are one of our most common migrants in both spring and fall, and it is not uncommon to see a half dozen or more gathered in one suitable area during passage.  They depart from here across the Gulf of Mexico, to winter in Middle America.

Catbirds commonly turn up in yards with ample vegetation within the city, so be on the lookout in your back yard.  A front is forecast for late next week, which may bring a wave of them in- but there are some around right now.

They are pretty responsive to swishing, so do not be surprised if one pops into view when you are swishing up other birds.  They often call when they approach, and commonly give several different vocalizations in this context.  One is the class mew that gives the bird its name; it sounds so very catlike that you will recognize the similarity immediately.

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District or Maple Street Book Shops.


Thursday, October 10, 2013

Twenty minutes at Bucktown Marsh

Today I swung by the Bucktown Marsh on the way to work.  This is across the lake levee from R & O's restaurant.

The brushy marsh edge had a cluster of birds that responded to swishing along its south edge, and another at its north end.  The former had 2 Marsh Wrens, 1 Sedge Wren, and 2 Common Yellowthroats.  Not easy to get Sedge Wren in the City, so that was a pleasant surprise.   They winter in grassy marshes outside the city.

The northern cluster of birds one had a Lark Sparrow, another Marsh Wren, and four more Yellowthroats.  Lark Sparrow is another goodie- I normally see less than a half dozen per year.  Fall migration is the most likely time for them, and today was a typical date.  It was teed up on top of the brush before I began swishing.

Walking the cut trail north along the lake edge, and then back via the unfinished road to the car, was relatively unproductive- though I had another Yellowthroat and a House Wren, swished up together.

Good birding,

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District Book Shop or Maple Street Book Shop. $24.95 in book stores, $24 (including shipping) from me direct.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Gorgeous field of cosmos in City Park is loaded with birds


This fall there is a shocking field of orange cosmos, perhaps 25 yards across, along Marconi Drive by Tad Gormley Stadium.  I stopped there and swished this morning, and birds started popping out of the cosmo patch in every direction.  There are two small trees within it, and many jumped up into these.

They were all Common Yellowthroats and Indigo Buntings.  About 15 of the former and 10 of the latter.  The field may produce other species as well in the next few weeks, with House and Marsh Wrens and Swamp Sparrow especially likely.

Even if there were not a bird here, it would be an uplifting experience to walk around this riot of color.  The birds make it extra cool.

Both birds are small and brown (Indigos are not blue at this season).  The buntings are uniformly brown, though you may see a hint of blue-gray wash in places such as the tail.  The yellowthroats have (surprise) a bright yellow throat and upper breast.  Males will have either a full or faded black mask.

Good birding, Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District or Maple Street Book Shops.  $25 in the bookstore, $24 (including shipping) shipped.


Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Still lots of migrants around


Today I stopped for 40 minutes in Gentilly at a woodlot near Delgado, and had a nice little collection of migrants.  A small ragweed patch and associated woodland edge along the wooded edge had 5 Common Yellowthroats, 7 Gray Catbirds, an American Redstart and a Red-eyed Vireo.  Farther north along the same woody edge, another flock with chickadees held White-eyed and Philadelphia Vireos, 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and a Northern Parula.  A handful of other birds were scattered here and there, including single Yellow and Magnolia Warblers.  With a few exceptions, these are all species that neither nest nor winter in the city, so these are all migrants passing through.  I did also see my first Eastern Phoebe of the fall; they should begin arriving in numbers in the next few weeks.

I also spent 30 minutes in the small woodsy patch next to the Fine Arts building at UNO, which was also pretty busy with migrants.  I started by swishing a mixed flock in low over my head, including 2 Redstarts, 2 Magnolia Warblers, 2 Pine Warblers, a Red-eyed Vireo, and a House Wren.  A Pewee was singing, and I managed to track down 4 Common Yellowthroats and 2 Catbirds elsewhere in the woodlot.  A Great Blue Heron was perched in its usual roosting spot in a tall pine (always an odd site, hundreds of yards from water).  These land birds were also all passage migrants, and none of them nest or winter on the UNO campus, except that the Pine Warblers are likely to winter at this site.

A few days each fall are (to me) Common Yellowthroat days, when they seem to be all over, including in ornamental shrubs.  Today was such a day- with one in a shrub in front of the student union at UNO, and another near the library in a water garden.

These are all birds moving in the wake of the recent frontal passage; fall migrants move south after fronts because they benefit from the tailwinds and fair weather that usually come after the front passes.  Usually the peak numbers occur in the few days  after the front, and then they slowly dwindle (sometimes rapidly dwindle) until the next front.

Get out and enjoy it while the weather is cool but the migrant birding is hot!

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District or Maple Street Book Shops.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Some migrants today at LaSalle Park

I just spent 40 minutes in LaSalle Park in Metairie, where there were some migrants.  I was there at 11:00 am.

Walking through the wooded glade (open understory area) on the paved path, I heard a few chickadees.  When I swished them in, a Red-eyed Vireo and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher came down with them.  A probable Hooded Warbler ticked in the adjacent understory.

A fit farther down the paved path, where the sliver of woods on the right ends, there was a busy patch of ragweed.  Six Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (streaky fall birds), four Summer Tanagers (all ochre-yellow female types), two Indigo Buntings (fall brown plumage) and two brown-plumaged Blue Grosbeaks.  A Nashville Warbler joined them in an adjacent oak.

Circling back via the boardwalk in the woods, there were no migrants until I reached the drip, which was being inspected by a female-type (green) Painted Bunting and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

A bit farther along, a thicket near ground level held a skulking female-type Common Yellowthroat.

At the other end of the boardwalk, where it rejoins the paved trail, was another pulse of birds.  White-eyed Vireo, Eastern-Wood Pewee, male (red) Summer Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and two Indigos.  All with chickadees.

Keep your eyes open!

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy- New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District or Maple Street Book Shops.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Likely a good night for migration

It sure feels odd to go overnight from thinking tropical storm waifs to thinking about migration coming down from the north, but hey- I don't make the weather!

Apart from eight probable Magnificent Frigatebirds that I saw circling over Harahan at a great distance yesterday, I have not heard any reports of birds displaced by TS Karen.  There are probably birders still afield who have not reported their sightings yet, so a few may yet be reported.

The cool front that has now passed New Orleans (ah- feels good!) will probably bring in a wave of migrants.  Tomorrow it will be worth checking the trees in your yard, or stopping by a woodsy spot like Couturie Forest in City Park.  We are still in the peak period for neotropical migrants (ie, birds headed to tropics), but this will only be true for another two weeks or so.  Then we will still get migrant pulses, but they will be predominantly species that will remain around in winter.

 Tonight seems like it is going to have the somewhat unusual combination of a low cloud deck and north winds, which means that there may be a lot of audible vocalizations of birds flying overhead.  Worth stepping outside and listening, especially after about 9 pm.  Remember that earlier in the evening, there may not be much plying our skies, since we have 25 miles of lake to our north- we may have to wait for the birds from north of the water to arrive overhead. Usually thrushes are the most audible- the peeper-like heep of Swainson's, and the grainy veer of Wood Thrush being the most likely.

Peter

For a copy of Birding Made Easy-New Orleans, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Garden District or Maple Street Book Shops.




Friday, October 4, 2013

Hurricane waif birding

While tropical storms such as Karen may be a nuisance in nearly every other respect, they do offer opportunities for seeing unusual bird species inland in Louisiana.  The regularity with which land falling tropical cyclones deposit coastal birds- or even tropical seabirds- inland after landfall is predictable enough that birds are now found after virtually every storm.  Indeed, some of the most feverish birding behavior can take place immediately after storms pass.

The general strategy of most birders is to stay at home (as often advised by authorities) during the storm's passage, making frequent trips outside to scan the sky during breaks in the rain.  Many a birder has added unusual birds to their "yard list" this way.

After things settle down and any official prohibitions are lifted, most birders then scan large bodies of water to look for seabirds, which can be either sitting on shore (or on the water), or flying - often purposefully heading back in the direction of the Gulf.  Lake Pontchartrain is usually targeted by birders in our area under these circumstances.  Birds will also often sit on wet lawns, such as those in City Park, or the fields across the street from Armstrong Airport (etc.).  There is also some indication that birds will continue to come down the Mississippi River for days after a storm passage, if the storm has crossed the Mississippi well upstream from us.  This was likely the reason for a jaeger (apparently Pomarine) I saw on the River near the Luling Bridge days after Isaac last year.  But generally, the best birding is immediately after the storm passes.

The storm waifs most often reported in the New Orleans area are pretty consistently Magnificent Frigatebirds and Black Terns.  Brown Pelicans, Royal Terns, and Black Skimmers may be boosted in numbers.  Bridled and Sooty Terns are the most likely truly pelagic species to occur, either over large water bodies or flying steadily overland.  Jaegers often turn up as well, especially Pomarine.   Many other species are possible, and records in or near Louisiana have been as odd as American Flamingo (after Isaac, last year).

Birds that migrate over us but normally do not pause before reaching the Gulf can sometimes be put down in conspicuous numbers- especially shorebirds.  This is also probably the mechanism behind the appearance of a Sabine's Gull I found near the Lakefront Airport during Hurricane Opal (which passed to our east) in 1995.  It was accompanied by several Franklin's Gulls, less rare but also hard to come by here  under normal circumstances.

Although waterbirds are the main attraction, odd songbirds sometimes turn up.  I have seen Gray Kingbird after tropical weather at UNO, and 1984's Hurricane Juan (before I came here) produced a remarkable list of late records of species that should have been in Latin America at the time.  Nobody is quite sure how the storm managed to produce this effect.

Unfortunately for us with Karen, the left side of the storm is usually not as good as the east side.  But some pelagics can get blown left of the track- as did some Sooty Terns when TS Lee came inland in Louisiana in 2011.  These may (?) be birds that were wrapped around in front of the advancing storm by the counterclockwise wind circulation, carrying them all the way around to the left side before the center of the storm passed.

Two main mechanisms are presumed to be involved in storm displacement:
1) birds becoming "caught" in the eye by retreating continuously from the advancing eyewall, sometimes to the point that they will even travel within it miles overland to avoid settling and enduring the eyewall winds.
2) birds are drifted by the counterclockwise circulation, sometimes far inland

Karen has no eye, so the second mechanism should apply.

Tropical cyclones have caused some remarkable displacements.  In 2008, a Cory's Shearwater was reported in Oklahoma after Gustav.  Several Black-capped Petrels have occurred well inland in the northeastern USA.

Because most tropical weather hits us earlier in the season, Karen's potential for producing waifs may not fit the patterns typical of earlier season storms- it will be interesting to see.

Be safe, and good birding!

Peter


Thursday, October 3, 2013

Seven Roseate Spoonbills in two places Metairie

Today I had a high count of the fall, seven Roseate Spoonbills during my morning commute.

Four were in the drainage ditch along Airline Drive, just west of Lester (which is a bit west of David Dr).

Three were in the median ditch of West Metairie, between Clearview and Transcontinental.

A visiting birder also reported one in City Park two days ago, in a pond just north of I-610.

Good birding!

Peter

for a copy of Birding Made Easy, email me at birding.made.easy.new.orleans@gmail.com, or look for it at the Maple Street or Garden District Book Shops.


Sunday, September 29, 2013

Roseate Spoonbills roosting this evening at Lafreniere Park


At evening twilight tonight there were five spoonbills roosting with the other waders at the boardwalk in Lafreniere Park.  Just as when I saw them here last year, they were all at the very tops of the roost trees- two in one tree, three in the other.

Good birding,

Peter

Friday, September 27, 2013

Distinguishing Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers


One identification challenge that is commonly faced by birders in southeast Louisiana is that of separating Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers.  Apart from barring on the outer tail feathers of the Downy (white in Hairy), there is no simple mark that can be used to separate the species- only more subjective characters of size, bill size, and voice.

The following should provide additional help:

1) Relative abundance

in our area overall, Downies greatly outnumber Hairies.  In urban New Orleans, the ratio is greater than 100:1.  In non-urban forested areas, it is not so lop-sided, but Downy is still notably more numerous than Hairy.  So keep in mind that the odds are with Downy from the start.

I probably detect a half dozen or fewer Hairies per year in urban New Orleans (this includes one this morning in the Jefferson batture, which prompted this post!).  However, in forests outside town, they are regular enough that it is reasonable to hope for one on a given day's list.

2) Bill size

Hairy bills really are noticeably larger than Downies- enough so that an observer familiar with both can know immediately which one they are looking at.  A Hairy bill looks like a chisel, a Downy like a pick.

3) Call note

Although the pik of the Downy and peek of the Hairy may seem (from these descriptions) quite similar, these are again different enough that an observer familiar with them can separate them with confidence, even a single note heard at a distance.  The Hairy note is louder and more robust.

The long calls of the species are not confusable- the Downy being a trailing-off series of rather delicate notes, and the Hairy being a loud evenly pitched rattle- maybe even more like a kingfisher than a Downy.

A little publicized difference is the length of the drum roll- Hairy notably longer, with (in my experience) little or no overlap in length.  However, it is rare to have opportunity to use this.

4) Body size

Again, the species differ enough that this difference will often make the species identity obvious to an experienced observer immediately.  Even flying across an opening.

Go out and find a Hairy!

Good birding,

Peter